Heavy Dates

BOSTON/PROVIDENCE

A quick encapsulation of the career of one Chip Taylor: wrote the rock standard "Wild Thing" (which didn't really get the version it deserved until Sam Kinison dug it up), then discovered James Taylor (no relation), and then, in a bit of divine retribution, developed a gambling addiction. Chip's back, believe it or not, making country-blues albums and playing on Saturday at the Bull Run, (978) 425-4311, in Shirley. We figure he is, by proxy, at least half-responsible for the career of James's little brother Livingston Taylor (note to God: one measly habit is not retribution enough), who it turns out is playing at Chan's, (401) 765-1900, in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, that same evening.

Rounder Records' 30th-anniversary party kicks off with punk-turned-blues-mama Candye Kane holding forth from her new The Toughest Girl Alive at the House of Blues, (617) 491-2583, in Cambridge, on Monday and the Iron Horse, (413) 584-0610, in Northampton, on Tuesday. And Jimmie Dale Gilmore follows up with an intimate set on an eclectic bill with Tony Trischka and Balfa Toujours at Lilli's, (617) 591-1661, in Somerville, on Wednesday.

From around the globe: the Bulgarian Women's Choir is at Harvard's Sanders Theatre, (617) 876-4275, in Cambridge, September 28. Brazilian superstar Marisa Monte hits the Berklee Performance Center, (617) 931-2000, in Boston, on Sunday. Celtic virtuosos Solas are at the Somerville Theatre, (617) 876-4275, on Saturday, and later that night NYC/Ireland jig-punk dudes the Prodigals are at the House of Blues. And speaking of drinking music: there is exactly one condition -- extreme inebriation -- under which we sanction public performances involving that hippo of the instrumental kingdom, the tuba. Which may explain why this weekend's oom-pah performances -- which feature lots of bands whose names, like the Jolly Kopperschmidts and the Oberländler Hofbrau Band, are really fun to say out loud in public restrooms -- are being held in a brewery. It's all part of the Harpoon Brewery's Oktoberfest 2000, (888) 427-7666, which is more or less an excuse to sit around, get sloshed, eat knockwurst, and come up with leering ways to mispronounce "Jolly Kopperschmidts." Oktoberfest runs Friday through Sunday at the Harpoon Brewery, 306 Northern Avenue, Boston. We're further tempted to suspend our no-tubas policy for the band Drums & Tuba -- which, to be fair, is more than just a drum 'n' bass novelty act where one guy plays drums and another plays tuba. There's also a guy who plays guitar, and they are indeed a serious trance act. Proof that we're not kidding is yours this Saturday at the Lizard Lounge, (617) 547-0759, in Cambridge, where Drums & Tuba are guests of avant-lounge hipsters Lars Vegas.

-- Carly Carioli